DAY 11 – 7th DAY NORTH

DAY 11 – 7^th DAY NORTH

Today we are in Kirkenes (pronounced, for some Norweeger reason, as Shir-ken-is), and our excursion is a King Crab fishing/eating experience.

First, we have to get prepared to fall in the water by donning our “Fall In The Water Suits”, and a mini life vest.  The suit will make you float and the vest will help you float heads up – very thoughtful, those Norweegers.

We head to the boats.

We sit two-by-two straddling a (semi) cushioned seat.  Getting ones 70-year-old-leg swaddled in a sink-proof arctic suit over an almost, approximate, estimated 5 foot tall seat is not easy, but can be accomplished with sufficient grunting.

We’re off (that is actually our sister boat),

which had the winch and hauled up the crab trap.  The crabs walk 2-3 miles a day in search of sushi (they love sushi, the less fresh the better), so the traps are moved daily.

The crabs have blue blood (hence the name King Crab), but it looked like gray water to us.  Francie happily drains water (blood) from the crab.  I could not help, but think what this scene would be like if the blood was say, blood red.

We all crowd around for the gruesome spectacle.

Said Spectacle

Waiting for the pot to boil.

Crabbies in.  He thinks he made a pressure cooker.

Three bricks for a HIGH pressure cooker.  We’re excited.

Last minute shell opening instruction.

We’re on our own.

You can tell by the look in my eyes that I am about to enter a feeding frenzy.

Francie in full feeding frenzy mode.

Some of the beautiful scenery in this way-the-hell-far-north town.

The scene of the debacle.

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In the late afternoon we stopped at Vardo.  Highlights here where the Vardøhus Fortress and the Witches Memorial.

I went to the fort -- a manly thing to do.  The barracks were interesting.  The grass roof was, no doubt, for hiding from satellite surveillance.

It was protected by a berm.

I wonder if there was a dampness problem with the back wall.

There was a nice statute commemorating the heroic exploits of this guy.

Norway still stands ready to defend all these rocks and what not.

 I could see the Witch Memorial from the fort,

I spotted Mary Frances and her buddy trekking over there.

Norway takes their embarrassment over the treatment of witches more seriously than we do.  They were not selling rubber noses or pointy hats like is available in Salem.

This is a chair, which usually has a flame coming out of the seat, memorializing the manner in which the confessed witches were all executed.  I don’t know how I feel about this symbol.

They had an impressive conviction rate, about 100%.  There were several men in the number proving that even back then, Norway was pretty egalitarian.

The cute section of Vardo is viewed as we leave.